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.Personally, I wonder if the Board ofDirectors have been consulting the Machine at all.They said they had in ourconference last month, and, of course, we have no evidence that they did not,but I wouldn't take the word of aNortherner in this matter - no offense intended - under any circumstances.-Nevertheless, I think it will have a fortunate ending.""In what way, my dear madam?""You must understand that the economic irregularities of the last few months,which, although small as compared with the great storms of the past, are quitePage 115 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmldisturbing to our peace-drenched spirits, have caused considerable restiveness in the Spanishprovince.I understand thatConsolidated Cinnabar is selling out to a group of native Spaniards.It isconsoling.If we are economic vassals of the North, it is humiliating to havethe fact advertised too blatantly.-And our people can be better trusted tofollow the Machine.""Then you think there will be no more trouble?""I am sure there will not be- In Almaden, at least."The Northern Region a-Area: 18,000,000 square miles b-Population: 800,000,000c--Capital: OttawaThe Northern Region, in more ways than one, was at the top.This wasexemplified quite well by the map in the Ottawa office of Vice-Co-ordinatorHiram Mackenzie, in which the North Pole was centered.Except for the enclaveof Europe with its Scandinavian and Icelandic regions, all the Arctic area waswithin the Northern Region.Roughly, it could be divided into two major areas.To the left on the map wasall of NorthAmerica above the Rio Grande.To the right was included all of what had oncebeen the SovietUnion.Together these areas represented the centered power of the planet inthe first years of theAtomic Age.Between the two was Great Britain, a tongue of the Region lickingat Europe.Up at the top of the map, distorted into odd, huge shapes, wereAustralia and New Zealand, also member provinces of the Region.Not all the changes of the past decades had yet altered the fact that theNorth was the economic ruler of the planet.There was almost an ostentatious symbolism thereof in the fact that of theofficialRegional maps Byerley had seen, Mackenzie's alone showed all the Earth, asthough the North feared no competition and needed no favoritism to point upits pre-eminence."Impossible," said Mackenzie, dourly, over the whiskey."Mr.Byerley, you havehad no training as a robot technician, I believe.""No, I have not.""Hmp.Well, it is, in my opinion, a sad thing that Ching, Ngoma andSzegeczowska haven't either.There is too preva lent an opinion among thepeoples of Earth that a Co-ordinator need only be a capable organizer, a broadgeneralizer, and an amiable person.These days he should know his robotics aswell, no offense intended.""None taken.I agree with you.""I take it, for instance, from what you have said already, that you worryabout the recent file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/I%20Robot.txt (91 of 95)[1/14/03 9:37:12 PM]file:///F|/rah/Isaac%20Asimov/I%20Robot.txt trifling dislocation in worldeconomy.I don't know what you suspect, but it has happened in the past thatpeople - who should have known better - wondered what would happen if falsedata were fed into the Machine.""And what would happen, Mr.Mackenzie?""Well," the Scotsman shifted his weight and sighed, "all collected data goesthrough a complicated screening system which involves both human andmechanical checking, so that the problem is not likely to arise.-But let usignore that.Humans are fallible, also corruptible, and ordinary mechanicaldevices are liable to mechanical failure."The real point of the matter is that what we call a `wrong datum' is onewhich is inconsistent with all other known data.It is our only criterion ofright and wrong.It is theMachine's as well.Order it for instance, to direct agricultural activity onPage 116 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlthe basis of an average July temperature in Iowa of 57 degrees Fahrenheit.Itwon't accept that.It will not give an answer.-Not that it has any prejudiceagainst that particular temperature, or that an answer is impossible; butbecause, in the light of all the other data fed it over a period of years, itknows that the probability of an average July temperature of 57 is virtuallynil.It rejects that datum."The only way a `wrong datum' can be forced on the Machine is to include it aspart of a self-consistent whole, all of which is subtly wrong in a mannereither too delicate for theMachine to detect or outside the Machine's experience.The former is beyondhuman capacity, and the latter is almost so, and is becoming more nearly so asthe Machine's experience increases by the second."Stephen Byerley placed two fingers to the bridge of his nose, "Then theMachine cannot be tampered with- And how do you account for recent errors,then?""My dear Byerley, I see that you instinctively follow that great error - thatthe Machine knows all.Let me cite you a case from my personal experience.Thecotton industry engages experienced buyers who purchase cotton.Theirprocedure is to pull a tuft of cotton out of a random bale of a lot
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